Page 175 of Withered

“No?” Jake says it, but it sounds more like a question than an answer.

"Whatever, we are watching this,” I say, scooting closer to him and leaning on his shoulder. I chooseThe Fault in our Stars.

My phone chimes on the table; I grab it and find many messages from Kristy.

For a split second, I sit up straight but relax when I look at the messages. “Kristy just sent me all the pictures from the fundraiser event.”

Jake pauses the movie and looks down at my phone. I flick through the images, eventually settling on one.

“Delete that one right now,” Jake yells next to me. It’s a photo of Professor Caleb and me dancing together.

I ignore Jake and swipe through the photos. Whoever took these photos is incredible. It’s as though he recorded every second of that day. My thoughts return to the night when I danced with Jake.

I halt once more as I come across a photograph of Jake and me dancing on the floor. There’s a soft smile playing on our lips, and our foreheads are touching.

“Let me see,” Jake says, snatching the phone from my hand.

I get on my knees and lean in to have a better look at my phone screen. The second image is equally amazing. Jake has his head in the crook of my neck. There are numerous candid photos from the event, not just from the dance floor. When we were seated around the table or eating.

Jake selects them all, and I ask, “What are you doing?”

“I’m sending them to me,” he says and sure enough, he proceeds to send it to himself.

Once that was done, I resume the movie. It’s an extremely hard job to watch a movie when a male specimen, like a movie star, is seated right beside you. My eyes are glued to the screen, but from the corner of my eye, I feel Jake’s gaze on me.

I pause the movie again at the scene where Augustus puts a cigarette in his mouth outside the support group building.

“I was just starting to get into the movie,” Jake says, but I cut him off.

I turn to look at him, dying to know one thing. “How come you don’t smoke? Or drink?”

“Do you want me to smoke or drink?” He asks, raising an eyebrow at me.

“No.” I shake my head. “Remember the first day of school? I saw Tyler smoking, but you didn’t have a cigarette in your hand. Later, when you dropped me home from that party, you weren’t drinking that night.”

There’s a playful smile on his lips. “It has been long.” I nodded, smiling. I used to despise him a lot back then.

“So?”

Jake shrugs. “I never smoked, but I did drink a lot. I used to get shitfaced.” His eyes wander as if he is remembering something. He adds, “When we moved here, I vowed to myself to stop.”

I nod and resume the movie. I steal a glance at him and find him staring at me or his phone screen, which displays the picture from the event. Halfway through, he pauses the movie.

“Why did you stop? He was going to confess his love for her,” I shout.

“I’m hungry,” he announces, and just the thought of food makes me hungry.

“Do you have popcorn?”

“I’m going to order pizza,” Jake says, dialing a number. “Toppings?” He asks.

I turn away from him. “I don’t like pizza,” I reply quietly, not knowing if he heard me. I think society won’t accept me because I don’t eat pizza.

When Jake stays silent for too long, I slowly tilt my head to look at him. He is staring at me with wide eyes. “Everyone eats pizza.”

I sink deep into the couch. “I don’t like it.”

“Why?”

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